SBA 504 Liquor Store Feasibility Study in Georgia

Far above the national ticket

Georgia's liquor store loans under SBA 504 are among the largest this program makes to the class. The $1.4 million median is 2.56x the nationwide 504 benchmark, and ordinary loans stretch from $667,500 to $2.1 million, on 32 loans and $47.7 million in gross dollars over FY2017 to FY2026. Georgia is 2 among states for the class, and liquor stores hold 9 of 39 places among Georgia's classes. Franchise share is 0.00%, and because 504 finances real estate, these are loans to buy or build the store, and typically the land under it.

Development companies

Florida Business Development Corporation shows 12 loans and $15.3 million, while Capital Partners Certified Development Company shows 10 loans and $20.8 million. The latter's average is much larger. These entries are present holders, which reveals who services Georgia liquor store loans but nothing about how either company decides. Cherokee County has 5 loans, Coweta and Gwinnett 3 each, and Barrow, Cobb, DeKalb, Hall, Henry and Rockdale 2 each, a metro Atlanta pattern with Bryan County at 1.

A recent surge

The early record is thin. FY2017 had 3 loans and $1.7 million, FY2018 had none, and FY2019, FY2020 and FY2021 each had a single loan. Then FY2022 had 3 loans and $4.8 million, FY2023 had 7 loans and $10.8 million, and FY2024 had 9 loans and $13.0 million, the peak. FY2025 had 5 loans and $8.9 million and FY2026 had 2 loans and $6.2 million. Georgia's liquor cohort at SBA is thin, so there is neither cancellation nor charge-off percentage on this page; absent is not zero.

What a Georgia liquor store study has to cover

Because the median is high, the study must justify a building that costs far more than a small shop. Start with the land and improvements against comparable sales, then show the trade area: households, traffic, competing package stores and the effect of state and local licensing, which limits who may sell. Revenue should be built from sales per square foot or per customer, with margin by category. Inventory and working capital need their own line apart from the real estate loan. A lender will test whether the payment is covered if sales dip or a competing licence is granted. Ask the appraiser what a buyer with no liquor licence would pay for the building.